'The river grabbed me and pulled me under': Edmonton paddle boarder shares near-death experience
'The river grabbed me and pulled me under': Edmonton paddle boarder shares near-death experience
Lindsay Cholod ventured out onto the North Saskatchewan River last weekend for her first paddle of the season but it was almost her last.
"There were no signs of any danger," she said. "Seemed like a normal day on the river."
She set out from Fort Edmonton on Saturday but when she reached the corner to Dawson Park, Cholod said the river quickly changed.
"It got faster, there was more debris in the river," she said.
As she got closer to a dock she noticed it was damaged by the river’s current and was partially submerged.
"I hit the dock, the river grabbed me and pulled me under," said Cholod. "It took me under and dragged me in the undercurrent all the way down."
Dock on North Saskatchewan River
Cholod said she frantically tried to get her head above water.
"I couldn’t because the dock was on top of me. Once I passed the dock then all the boats were on top of me and the last two breaths I took were full of water and it was on that second breath of water where I was like, 'omg I’m not going to make it out of this," she said.
Somehow she managed to get herself out of the situation.
"You’re able to swim, I don’t know how. I had no air in my lungs, I had no energy, but your body just powers through."
BE WATER SAFE
"You have to ask yourself, can you self-rescue?" said Bruce McWhinnie, Chief of Special Operations with Edmonton Fire Rescue Services.
"By self-rescue I mean if there happened to be an incident where you separated from the device that you’re on, do you have the ability to get back on it or get back to shore? If you can’t self-rescue, my recommendation is that you stay off the swift water environment."
So far this year EFRS has responded to 42 water rescues. There were 138 last summer including animal rescues, up from 104 during the summer of 2020.
"Last summer City Park Rangers and the Edmonton Police Marine Unit performed more than 5,500 safety compliance checks," said Zain Haji, a City of Edmonton Park Ranger.
He added that nearly half of the boaters checked were not in compliance with boating regulations.
Boaters are required to have, at minimum, a personal floatation device or life jacket for each person on board, a throw bag, whistle or sound signaling device and a watertight flashlight when traveling in low light conditions.
"This applies to all boaters including those using inflatables such as dinghies, air mattresses, floating islands and tubes," said Haji.
Constable Derek Jones with the Edmonton Police Marine Unit urges water users to wear a life jacket, especially paddle boarders.
"If it’s not on and it’s with your paddle board and you get separated from your paddle board you might be swimming after it and you might not get your paddle board and find yourself in a situation you don’t want to be in," he said.
"Wearing that life jacket will keep you afloat in the calm water up top because with a moving body of water like this there’s some turbulence underneath that you’re not seeing. So it looks calm right now and flat but underneath there’s water in motion and rocks and changing elevations underneath that we don’t see," said Jones.
Cholod is an experienced paddle boarder and admits she was overconfident that day on the water.
"And when you’re too confident you become complacent," she said.
"I’m just very, very lucky. I’m super grateful that I’m still here able to talk about it."
She also wants to connect with two women she encountered on shore after her near-drowning.
Cholod doesn’t remember who they were but said they drove her home and made sure she was okay.
Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino and senior RCMP officers are defending the national police force's years-long and previously undisclosed use of spyware—capable of remotely accessing cell phone and computer microphones, cameras and other data—as part of dozens of major investigations.
Saskatoon police say a woman who had been reported missing is facing charges in the United States related to unauthorized use of identification and in Canada related to parental abduction and public mischief.
Ontario's health minister said Monday that six hospitals had to close departments -- including ERs -- over the weekend, but argued that the situation wasn't unprecedented.
Sources close to the government's proposed $5.3 billion dental care program say the Liberals are planning a temporary solution that involves giving money directly to patients in order to keep their promise to the NDP while they work on a more permanent answer.
A suspect already in handcuffs has allegedly managed to overpower a Toronto police officer and steal their SUV, sending police on a wild early morning chase that ended with an attempted carjacking.
A Calgary man and woman face 33 charges for alleged drug possession in addition to alleged firearm possession that police say was for the purpose of trafficking drugs.
The deputy mayor of a southern Newfoundland town says his community is running out of food as it remains cut off from the rest of the island due to the worst forest fires the province has seen in more than 60 years.
Halifax has cancelled 75 bus trips due to a lack of transit staff, and the union representing the drivers says staffing levels will likely get worse before they get better.
A weather front sprawling out of Ontario and Quebec is leading a low pressure system across the Maritimes Monday through Tuesday. Rain, drizzle and fog are expected in the region with some areas experiencing heavy rain for a period of time.
Ontario hospitals are upholding their mandatory COVID-19 vaccination policies for employees as staff shortages mount to a 'crisis' with more emergency departments temporarily closing over the weekend.
Ontario's health minister said Monday that six hospitals had to close departments -- including ERs -- over the weekend, but argued that the situation wasn't unprecedented.
Quebec's chief coroner has ordered a public inquiry into the death of 26-year-old Abdulla Shaikh, who is suspected of killing the three men at random last week.
One day after Montreal Pride abruptly cancelled the parade just hours before it was set to begin, organizers didn't have much to say about how poorly they managed the festival's marquee event. And now there are concerns about how the embarrassing mistake could hurt the city's reputation.
Montreal police are investigating the suspicious death of a man whose body was found in a bin during recycling collection in the city's Hochelaga-Maisonneuve neighbourhood Monday morning.
Ottawa's Confederation Line LRT will be closing early on a total of 10 days this month as crews perform maintenance on the tracks, with reduced service planned on parts of the line for two other nights.
OC Transpo is advising customers to prepare for more bus trip cancellations today and this week, as the transit service deals with a staffing shortage caused by summer vacations and sick leave absences.
Student housing is hard to come by in Waterloo and new spots are constantly being built to address the need, but it appears some new housing might not be ready in time for the start of the school year.
Brantford Police have issued an arrest warrant for a man and are asking the public for help identifying a second man following a police chase which resulted in multiple collisions and the two suspects evading arrest.
A Manitoba woman who abused and killed her daughter in one of the province's most notorious crimes has been granted escorted temporary absences from prison.
Several belongings have been found, but there's still no sign of an American man who crossed the border to attend a music festival, officials said, announcing the suspension of search efforts.
A mom in Chilliwack, B.C., says she was terrified after her children were exposed to an unknown irritant at a local playground that caused their skin and eyes to burn.
Mounties say nearly two dozen impaired drivers were taken off the road over the B.C. Day long weekend in the Lake Cowichan area, and a half-dozen more drivers were ticketed for excessive speeding.
Dock on North Saskatchewan River
